Tesla’s woes unlikely to end soon, but startups can take a cue

“Funding secured.” When Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted the above statement early August, it kickstarted a series of things: Tesla stock jumped from about $363 to $379. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched a formal investigation into Musk — accusing him of making false and misleading statements to prop up Tesla’s value. The US Department of Justice opened a fraud investigation into Tesla. The SEC charged Musk with fraud, and Tesla and Musk reached a settlement with the SEC in which both Tesla and Musk will each pay a $20 million penalty and Musk will have to step down from…